Repsol Says It Won't Wait Longer for Petrobras Share Sale to Hold its IPO

Repsol YPF SA, Spain’s biggest oil company, said it will proceed with an initial public offering of its Brazilian unit in the fourth quarter and won’t wait on Petroleo Brasileiro SA’s planned $25 billion share sale.

“Our initial idea is to go to the markets behind Petrobras, and if Petrobras really delays the process, our goal is to aim for the last quarter of this year,” Chief Operating Officer Miguel Martinez said today on an earnings conference call with analysts and investors.

Petrobras, Brazil’s state-controlled oil company, on June 22 delayed plans to sell shares to September from July. Petrobras, based in Rio de Janeiro, has said it expects to raise as much as $25 billion from minority shareholders.

The Repsol sale would offer other companies access to oil fields near Brazil’s offshore Tupi field, the largest discovery in the Americas since 1976. Petrobras’s IPO would help finance the largest investment program of any oil company in the world as it develops oil fields offshore the South American country.

Boosting Capital

Repsol has no plans to sell assets in Brazil, Martinez said on today’s call. Repsol plans a 40 percent capital increase, through an IPO, to fund developments in Brazil, he said.

“We are not selling any assets in Brazil,” he said. “We are going for a capital increase, through an IPO.”

The company’s IPO plans have been discussed with Petrobras, Repsol Chief Executive Officer Antonio Brufau said April 29. “We want to be very close to them,” he said at the time.

Repsol, based in Madrid, is the biggest, non-state owned oil company operating in Brazil, according to its website. Repsol has stakes in the Santos, Campos and Espirito Santo pre- salt basins.

Repsol said today that second-quarter profit rose 60 percent on increased oil prices and better refining margins.

For Related News and Information: Top Energy News: {ETOP <GO} Top Latin American News: {TOPL <GO}

To contact the reporter on this story: Rodrigo Orihuela in Buenos Aires at rorihuela@bloomberg.net

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